The present invention relates to a self-propelled harvesting machine that is especially adapted for the harvesting of crop material to be used for technical purposes, in particular for energy-related purposes.
The present invention also relates to a method of harvesting of crop material with a self-propelled harvesting machine, to be used for technical purposes, in particular, for energy related purposes.
Due to rapidly increasing costs for fossil fuels, techniques for obtaining fuel from sustainable raw materials have recently become the focus of greater public interest.
One problem that exists with most of the techniques used to obtain fuel from biomass is the high water content of the biomass in its fresh state. When fresh biomass must be hauled to a stationary facility where it is processed into fuel, large quantities of water that are present in the biomass are also transported, thereby resulting in high transport costs and, ultimately; high energy expenditures. If this factor is added to the energy “balance sheet” for a fuel obtained from biomass, the result is low efficiency, and even negative efficiency in certain circumstances. Therefore, it is important to minimize the distances covered between the field and the processing facility, and to minimize the amount of mass that is hauled.
To reach this goal, DE 10 2004 003 011 A1 provides that the processing system be brought to the crop material on the field, as part of a self-propelled harvesting machine, and that the crop material be processed into fuel directly on the field. This known harvesting machine includes a processing module for fragmentizing and compressing the harvested biomass, thereby separating the harvested biomass into a solid portion and a portion composed of plant juices. The portion of solid material obtained in this manner is then dried, in order to reduce its water content to the extent that the material may be processed further in an oiling module to obtain gasoline, Diesel oil, and heavy oil. In order to process the harvested biomass into fuel during the harvesting process itself, the processes mentioned must take place quickly, which, in the case of drying in particular, is not possible without the addition of a considerable amount of energy from an external source. Since the energy used in this case for drying also reduces the efficiency of the entire process to a considerable extent, it is important to remove so much moisture from the biomass by mechanical means that the drying may take place using a minimal amount of energy, or so that the drying unit and step may be eliminated entirely.